Blocked glottis on snake -any advice urgently welcome

I'm in Fiji (the south pacific country) without specialist reptile vet support, and I've got something going on I've never seen before. ANY opinions, experiences or suggestions would be very welcome.

I have an adult male wild caught endemic Fiji Boa (Candoia bibroni bibroni) who I've had in the same conditions (natural temperature, humidity and light) for more than 8 years without any problems. He's just (along with my other 4 snakes, all in good health) coming out of his winter brumation fast, but hasn't started to eat yet (the others ate 3 days ago).

He seems to have a blockage of his glottis (breathing tube). He's breathing though his nares (nose) OK, but every now and again he goes though quite a violent "fit " of gaping, hissing (very loudly), and rubbing his head upside down. I actually thought he was convulsing the first time. He's not bubbling or clicking, but when I managed to get a good look inside his mouth , his glottis seemed to be blocked, and there was a long strand of white mucous-like material between his glottis and his throat. (see photo)

I managed to clear this out with the aid of a soft chopstick and a baby toothbrush (and a struggle....), and he is resting better today, but his glottis still doesn't seem to be open.

I've never had a previous problem with respiratory infections, and the other snakes seem fine. I don't give them artificial heat, but the weather is warming naturally (right now about 32oC / 85oF ish daytime) and very humid.

Also, probably not relevant, but who knows, when I took him out of the tank he was just beginning to shed (and actually did so as I was handling him). the skin came off fine, including his face, eye-caps and throat, but his eyes are still a bit cloudy and his head a bit pale, so I'm wondering if there's another layer to come (he normally sheds very completely and without problem).

I'm afraid to feed him in case there is still a blockage. What are your opinions of fogging or steaming him? On-line I see people have tried fogging with Veterinary Disinfectant (I don't have a fogger, and not yet sure whether the mammal vets here have appropriate disinfectant), and also steaming with Vicks Vapour rub and Eucalyptus oil in hot water (I do have access to these).

I can also get Baytril but only oral, not injectable, and I'm not happy about sticking a pipette down his throat right now.

Or maybe it's not an infection and there's something else that might cause this which I don't know about?

Any advice would be MUCH appreciated. I'm posting this on 13 Nov 2017, and it feels pretty urgent to me....

Slightly nasty open mouth photo coming up....

Wish I could contribute but I've never run up against this before. Closest thing I've seen was ingested wood chip/shaving 'after' feeding, but not your case. Good luck Helen, hopefully someone else has a good suggestion.

Thanks for the response anyway Robert, it helps just to talk it over.

It's definitely not something he has ingested - I originally thought it might be a bit of his shed, but when I swiped with the chopstick it was gooey and mucous like.

I'm trying an on-line vet service, and I'll let you know if that yields anything useful.

Is the inside of their mouths normally black?

Well, that's a very good question - and the answer is I think so. (I don't see it much, there's usually food in the way )

I think it may be related to the individual snake pigmentation - my large female yawns pink, my two other males are noticeably darker inside, but particularly dark in winter when they are cold and not eating much.

Here are pics of of the sides of the mouths when two of them are eating - the pink one is my large female (from another locality) and the darker one is this snake's brother. I'm going to search around for more pics.

OK, looked around for feeding time photos and yes, indeed, his mouth is normally black inside (the top two pictures), while one of my others (the bottom pic) is totally pink. They are from different islands and also have different skin patterns.

(In case you are wondering, they normally eat 2 week old chicks, but I give them supplementary chicken wings, which is what they are eating in these pictures ).

Ok if it were normally pink I would have thought that he had some weird mouth infection going on.

At this point I'd cross my fingers and try the Baytril. If you can get Fortaz/Ceftazidime, that antibiotic in combo with Baytril is very effective on bacterial RI's, if that's what he's got going on.

Helenthereef said:

I give them supplementary chicken wings,

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Side question: are you warming them in hot water, microwaving them a little or are they simply taking them at room temps?

Thanks Melinda, I'll go and weird out my local mammal vets again..... he doesn't have any other symptoms, but I've never seen an RI.

Different question: It appears there is some kind of cloth towel in his cage, does that remain in there normally? Do you feed your snakes with the towel in there?

Robert Walker said:

Side question: are you warming them in hot water, microwaving them a little or are they simply taking them at room temps?

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I thaw them in lukewarm water so they are at, or slightly above, room temp (But you have to realise that my room temps are pretty high - often above 80-oF).

(I don't have a microwave - did try it once, and made a HELL of a mass of a rat )

Robert Walker said:

Different question: It appears there is some kind of cloth towel in his cage, does that remain in there normally? Do you feed your snakes with the towel in there?

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No, the towel was just in there to help with the shed. They live on newspaper, and I feed them in bare floor tubs.

Helenthereef said:

made a HELL of a mass of a rat )

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Sooooo true. Basically boils their insides, usually blows out their stomach and makes their tails crackle, pop and curl.

You only need to do that once or twice before you realize, "Dang, that wasn't a good idea".

Helenthereef said:

No, the towel was just in there to help with the shed. They live on newspaper, and I feed them in bare floor tubs.

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Okay, just thought I would ask. I had a Burmese python m-a-n-y moons ago ingest a beach towel from it's cage that got rabbit scent on it.

I know, I know... a learning curve back in the day.

bcr229 said:

At this point I'd cross my fingers and try the Baytril. If you can get Fortaz/Ceftazidime, that antibiotic in combo with Baytril is very effective on bacterial RI's, if that's what he's got going on.

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Melinda, any advice on dosage? he weighs about 3 Kg, and chances are I'd have to give it orally. Thanks

Robert Walker said:

Okay, just thought I would ask. I had a Burmese python m-a-n-y moons ago ingest a beach towel from it's cage that got rabbit scent on it.

I know, I know... a learning curve back in the day.

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I hope this will turn out to be a future funny story too....

Helenthereef said:

Melinda, any advice on dosage? he weighs about 3 Kg, and chances are I'd have to give it orally. Thanks

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Unfortunately no as I've always injected it and the vet made up the syringes for me. It does have to be kept frozen until administered.

bcr229 said:

Unfortunately no as I've always injected it and the vet made up the syringes for me. It does have to be kept frozen until administered.

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OK, thanks. I have used Baytril before as a precaution when they had some regurge problems during a heatwave, and I had to crush up tablets and pipette a solution down their throats (they are very used to being handled, and relatively placid, but it was still a saga...).

the strand of mucus would make me suspect an RI which I just find slightly odd since I know they are native there so your temps should be fine but perhaps he has an underlying infection of some sort and it just manifested this way?

He's been resting quietly now for 2 days since the gaping and hissing, so this morning I took him out and made him move around, and he seems fine - except for limited vision because his eyes are still foggy. I opened his mouth and had a quick look inside and while his glottis wasn't visibly open, there was no more mucous or any sign of bubbles etc. He's obviously breathing because, you know, not dead

I'm keeping him in isolation and today will speak to the vet, and see if I can get some antibiotics on hand in case he starts exhibiting symptoms again. However, pushing a pipette of antibiotics down his throat at this point seems like an additional stress I'd like to avoid.

Has anyone ever tried, or even heard of, fogging with disinfectant or steaming with Vapour Rub/ Eucalyptus? I swear there are advocates of this out there on the interwebs, but I don't want to experiment blindly....

I might try feeding him a very small meal (so as not to block his mouth for very long) in a day or so.